The Fighting TTLGers present: Arma 3 (a TTLG Coop Saturdays spin-off) - by Thirith
Thirith on 4/4/2020 at 16:32
Today we managed to win a couple of missions. There were some problems, especially with connectivity, but other than that we spent more time fighting enemy units than
Arma itself.
First up:
TRGM2 (Takistan), generated on the basis of a couple of variables. Henke led us on a mission to a village to the far north of Takistan to take out two ammo trucks. A transport helicopter took us (henke, Malf, Jeshibu and myself) to a nearby hill from which we just about saw the village. Except there was a machine gun nest, and they definitely saw us and started shooting us to bits. In the meantime, dema had joined the server and was heading our way with an attack chopper he'd grabbed at base, but since there was an AA gun in the village, they took him down in a heroic blaze of death and burning kerosene. By that time, though, we'd managed to take out the machine gun nest and were now attacking a roadblock near the two ammo trucks that were our target. After a longish fight, though, and after getting a missile launcher off a dead soldier because the Javelin Malf had didn't really work, we managed to complete the objective. At that point, the enemy sent a helicopter with reinforcements our way, but we took those out and flew the badly damaged enemy chopper back to base. Henke's connection went on the fritz during that phase of the mission, but he managed to log back in again just in time for us to end the mission. Yay, victory!
Mission two was
Dynamic Recon Ops (Malden), which didn't really want to play ball. For some reason, only the first two units were put in the transport chopper while everyone else stayed back at base, so in the end we started in the base, spawned a helicopter and henke flew us there. Not the AI units, though, since they decided they weren't going to follow orders. Our mission was to clear a mine field, and since I was the guy with the mine detector I went and looked for the explosive party favours while the rest of the gang cleared out that part of the city. At some point while focusing on the area where the mines were supposed to be I was taken out by an armed villager in a red t-shirt - but then the AI that had stayed back at base miraculously appeared, killed the guy and revived me. Had they walked all the way from base? We'll never know, but after I finished taking out the mines we called in the escape chopper, everyone hopped in - well, everyone who wasn't controlled by the AI - and we flew back to base. Okay, we lost henke in mid-mission, since his computer crashed, but he was with us in spirit. (His body, mind you, is still stuck in enemy-occupied La Trinité...)
We finished with a quick one:
Firefight Alikampos (Altis), a good, old-fashioned "Clear the area" mission. There were some moments that were less than glorious, especially one of the AI riflemen grenading himself (I just looked up to see him get blown up by his own grenade with a blank expression on his face), and I kept going on about how there's always an MRAP or two, which Jesh would have had to take out with his trusty AT launcher - but in the end it turned out that there were no MRAPs, just a couple of oddly-placed enemy infantry units, and after we'd killed the last one that was the third victorious mission in a row.
Anyway, thanks to henke, Jeshibu, Malf and demagogue for an enjoyable game. I'll run another session in two weeks:
Quote:
Date: Sat, 18 April 2020
Time: 3-6pm UK timeAs always, I'll be online a bit before 3pm to set up the server and check who's online.
Jeshibu on 4/4/2020 at 17:47
Quote Posted by Thirith
At that point, the enemy sent a helicopter with reinforcements our way, but we took those out and flew the badly damaged enemy chopper back to base. Henke's connection went on the fritz during that phase of the mission, but he managed to log back in again just in time for us to end the mission. Yay, victory!
Don't forget Henke getting a helicopter blade haircut by assuming control of an NPC in the copilot seat, which made him stand up straight.
Inline Image:
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/1002555715105592691/01503294396BB6019311773D290142AC2080065B/Quote Posted by Thirith
We finished with a quick one:
Firefight Alikampos (Altis), a good, old-fashioned "Clear the area" mission. There were some moments that were less than glorious, especially one of the AI riflemen grenading himself (I just looked up to see him get blown up by his own grenade with a blank expression on his face), and I kept going on about how there's always an MRAP or two, which Jesh would have had to take out with his trusty AT launcher - but in the end it turned out that there were no MRAPs, just a couple of oddly-placed enemy infantry units, and after we'd killed the last one that was the third victorious mission in a row.
I actually managed to capture this glorious moment that shows us why we need not worry about AI taking over just yet:
[video=youtube_share;Q9x84GTZ5wU]https://youtu.be/Q9x84GTZ5wU[/video]
Fun session, thanks again for hosting these Thirith!
Thirith on 5/4/2020 at 07:36
Heh. That's roughly how I throw grenades at the best of times. :-p
Next time, perhaps we can do a quick test of those Dynamic Recon Ops and whether the problems with AI and with half the team not being on the chopper are always there. I've deactivated a server-side AI mod that might have had something to do with it, and I'll try to test it myself too, but some things might only pop up with more than one real player. I did a quick check yesterday with myself and a squad of AI, and they all were on the transport chopper as they're supposed to be.
Thirith on 5/4/2020 at 08:12
On a different note: I know now why Malf's Javelin thrower was useless. These things work with heat signatures only, and then they work pretty well, provided you've got a good vantage point from which to lock on and fire. (Being at roughly the same height and having trees and stuff between yourself and the target makes it very difficult to lock on.) The ammo trucks we were after weren't active, i.e. no heat signature. I'll try to keep that in mind for another time, so we can grab some other launchers that are less picky or that at least have a free-aim mode in addition.
Thirith on 18/4/2020 at 17:12
Beautiful. :cheeky:
Thanks to henke, Jeshibu and Malf for a fun session! As always with the Sigma Quadrant missions, 1) they're reliably good fun but 2) the guy who makes them doesn't half like his MRAPs! This time around, there were even a couple of tanks to mix things up... It is a bit silly that we always have to spend ten minutes at the beginning loading the truck with missiles, but I do like the cat-and-mouse moments when we're sneaking around a town, trying to get the jump on an MRAP before it takes us out.
While dema wasn't here today, I have learned from him that it pays to hit the dirt. While your visibility goes way down due to the grass, it also vastly increases your chances of survival and gives you an opportunity to reposition yourself. I did take out a couple of MRAPs today due to this trick... but I admit that I did also get blown up plenty (see above).
I'll probably organise another session in two weeks, but I'll confirm in a couple of days. Till then!
P.S.: While our first mission today (a computer-generated trip to Zargabad) didn't go particularly well, it did feature a spectacular almost-crash that had our helicopter, piloted by henke, skid across a couple of dunes before it came to a halt. And no one died immediately! Okay, a couple of AI units bled out, but Jesh, henke and me, we survived... until the bad guys got us. But we survived the landing!
Thirith on 19/4/2020 at 12:21
So, I recorded* some of yesterday’s mission:
[video=youtube_share;5sw-qjdAg-8]https://youtu.be/5sw-qjdAg-8[/video]
I was somewhat surprised at just how jerky my mouse movements are; I’ll have to see that I can tweak my mouse settings. Also, I was very surprised by my kill numbers yesterday, because I both have crap aim and tend to be terrible in terms of enemy awareness. It helps to destroy MRAPs, though, because you tend to get multiple kills at once.
*The software I used didn’t easily let me set the right aspect ratio, which means that those of you with ultrawide screens will be treated to black bars on every damn side of the video. Sorry.
henke on 19/4/2020 at 13:05
Nice shootin, Tex! The game looks great in ultrawide btw, I'm considering going for one of those monitors next time I upgrade.
Thirith on 19/4/2020 at 13:10
Yeah, I'm really happy with my ultrawide screen, especially in combo with tech like G-Sync. And while working from home I'm not even missing the two-screen setup I have at the office.
I'll try to do videos more often going forward, though I'll probably do a simple edit only. Just something to grab a few of the highlights and fun moments.
Tony_Tarantula on 28/4/2020 at 13:20
Any DLC we need for the next one?
And when is it going to be?